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August 13, 1999/1 Elul 5759, Vol. 51, No.45
Confusion marks latest talks over timing of withdrawals
NAOMI SEGAL
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
When exactly Israel will begin withdrawing from more West Bank territory has provoked a new round of disagreement between Israeli and Palestinian officials.
The dispute stemmed from a comment Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak made Sunday, Aug. 8, when he said Israel would begin implementing the Wye accord in September. At first glance, it appeared that Barak meant that the second of three withdrawals spelled out in the accord would begin next month.
The comment had sparked hopes that the two sides were inching closer toward resolving earlier differences. Indeed, Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, bolstering those hopes, subsequently accepted the timetable. Barak had promised to carry out the Wye agreement in August, Arafat told reporters on Aug. 8, but if it began in September, "We accept this." But it soon became clear that the two sides were not talking about the same thing.
Barak's offer did not spell out when Israel would complete the withdrawals from the West Bank. And when he and his aides began issuing clarifications, the Palestinian side was less than pleased. It turned out that Barak expects the Palestinian Authority to begin meeting its security obligations in September, including confiscating illegal weapons and reducing the size of the Palestinian police force. After that, Israel would begin withdrawing from West Bank land in October.
Barak's interpretation of the accord's timetable elicited protests Monday, Aug. 9, from Palestinian officials, who said both sides should live up to their agreements simultaneously.
"We're willing to start today if the Israelis will start today," said chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, who maintained that his side had already lived up to most of the security provisions spelled out in the accord. He added that when Arafat welcomed Barak's proposed timetable a day earlier, it was based on the assumption that the Israeli withdrawal, not a countdown to a withdrawal, would begin then.
Barak spokesman Ya'acov Goldberg later said the premier is "very puzzled" by the Palestinian reaction, adding that Barak had made it clear during recent talks with Arafat and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak that the countdown to the Israeli withdrawal would take 30 days. "The prime minister has said this from the beginning," Goldberg added.
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